Seattle shut out in bids for NHL expansion franchise

A big question mark hung over Seattle and the Pacific Northwest on Monday surrounding whether or not the NHL would consider expanding to the Emerald City entering the league’s application deadline for cities interested in a hockey franchise.

The answer, in a word: no.

Ownership groups representing the Seattle area, which at one time expected to make at least two expansion bids, instead made none.

Entering the Monday deadline, the only option alive for Seattle area was the Tukwila proposal headed by Connecticut investment banker Ray Bartoszek. The other players’ offers died days ago.

On Friday, multiple reports stated that Los Angeles real estate developer Victor Coleman’s possible bid would not be submitted after he failed to agree on a deal with California hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen. That deal would have allowed Coleman’s potential NHL franchise to play in Hansen’s proposed Sodo arena — the NHL’s preferred destination.

Another possible bid — the secretive Bellevue proposal — perished earlier in the week, according to The Seattle Times’ Geoff Baker.

On Monday, Bartoszek too decided to forego submitting an application, per Baker, though that doesn’t necessarily mean his Tukwila-based arena project is dead, too.

“The group continues to pursue an arena, but not a team at this time,” Baker tweeted.

Seattlepi.com reached out to to Bartoszek for comment earlier in the day, but he did not make himself available.

According to multiple reports, Las Vegas and Quebec City were the only cities to submit a bid before Monday’s deadline. The NHL said it could add up to two teams, and with no other competition — that we know of — each city will now make its best case for expansion.